'Open Hearts'

"Open Hearts," Denmark's official Oscar entry for foreign-language film, has a wonderfully apt title. The film explores how people deal with the aftermath of a catastrophe that upends the lives of a young couple and of a doctor and his family. What director Susanne Bier reveals in her film is that those willing to strive for emotional honesty -- those who have the courage to open their hearts -- have a chance of healing and getting on with their lives.

The plot is shot through with coincidence and irony, rich in implications and, above all, surprise, all of which the viewer should be allowed to discover on his or her own. It's enough to know that a young couple, Cecilie (Sonja Richter) and Joachim (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), have just become engaged when Joachim is severely injured in an accident. In self-pity and rage Joachim drives Cecilie away and eventually into the consoling arms of an understanding physician, Niels (Mads Mikkelsen), who not surprisingly is married and has three children.

His marriage to Marie (Paprika Steen) is happy enough, but its passion has waned. While Marie's attraction to her husband remains as strong as ever, Niels is more vulnerable than he realizes. Deeply in love with Joachim and devastated by his rejection, Cecilie comes on to Niels looking for consolation without regard for the consequences.

It's all the ingredients for an emotional mess in which four adults and three children are liable to get hurt. Bier's people do not emerge unscathed but are sustained by an innate decency that keeps them from succumbing to selfishness and sustains their persistence in trying to work out their lives. Bier accepts as a given that bad things can happen to good people at any moment; what concerns her is what good people try to do about them, even as they inescapably hurt themselves and others.

A production of Lars Von Trier's Zentropa company, "Open Hearts" was made in keeping with the Dogme 95 precepts that include hand-held cameras, natural light and settings and no score -- but the songs, all in English and emanating from Cecilie's headset, are terrific, giving the film the feeling of being right up to the minute. The gritty, low-budget realism approach of the Dogme manifesto gives immediacy and edge to the raw emotions Bier and her cast uncover. Best of all, Bier never forgets that a little humor can relieve an awful lot of pain.

'Open Hearts'

MPAA rating: R, for sex and language.

Times guidelines: Complex adult themes and situations; unsuitable for children.